Covington & Burling

History

Judge J. Harry Covington and Edward B. Burling founded Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., on January 1, 1919.

In 1988, Covington opened a London office that was followed in 1990 by opening a Brussels office. In 1999, Covington merged with Howard, Smith & Levin, a New York firm of 60 attorneys and the firm opened its first West Coast office in San Francisco. In 2008, Covington entered into a strategic alliance with Institution Quraysh for Law & Policy, a Qatar-based transnational law firm and think-tank, for the joint provision of legal and consulting services in the Middle East.

The firm was listed as #15 among the Vault Law 100 in 2025.

Targeting by the second Trump administration

On February 25, 2025, President Donald Trump revoked security clearances held by employees of the Covington & Burling law firm, citing its provision of pro bono legal services to former Special Counsel Jack Smith, the prosecutor in two criminal cases charging Trump, both of which were dropped following the results of the 2024 election. Smith had received $140,000 in free legal services from the firm, according to a January 10 disclosure by his office. Politico reported that at least two attorneys at the firm, Peter Koski and Lanny Breuer, have represented Smith.

Notable clients and cases

Litigation clients of Covington & Burling include Alps Electric; Citibank; JP Morgan; National Football League; AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, Inc. and McKesson Corporation, prescription opioid manufacturers; and Roundup herbicide producer Monsanto Company.

State of California

The government of California hired Covington & Burling attorney and former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder to represent the state in legal matters related to actions of the first Donald Trump administration.

Commonwealth of Australia

According to press reports and filings with the U.S. Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, following the enactment of the U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement, Covington & Burling assisted the government of Australia in pursuing the legislation to create a new visa category reserved exclusively for nationals of Australia. The Covington team included Stuart Eizenstat, Martin Gold, Roderick DeArment, David Marchick, Elizabeth Letchworth, Les Carnegie, and Brian Smith. On November 20, 2012, the LegalTimes reported that the Embassy of South Korea had hired Covington & Burling to advise on a similar visa for Korea. Covington of counsel Brian Smith and senior international policy adviser Alan Larson reportedly led the matter, assisted by senior counsel Martin Gold and associate Jonathan Wakely.

''Pro bono'' work

Covington's pro bono work focuses on providing legal services to people in local communities. Attorneys at the firm may participate in a six-month rotation program and work at each of three D.C.-based legal service organizations: Neighborhood Legal Services Program, the Children's Law Center, and Bread for the City.

Covington's pro bono work includes representation in Buckley v. Valeo, Griffin v. Illinois, and Korematsu v. United States. They supported the District of Columbia in District of Columbia v. Heller, arguing that the District's ban on the possession of handguns and its storage provisions for other firearms in the home is not implicated by the Second Amendment.{{cite news

Covington provided pro bono work for special counsel Jack Smith who brought two criminal cases against Donald Trump. After Trump became president for the second time in 2025, the Trump administration retaliated against Covington by pulling the security clearances of staff at the law firm.

Representation of Guantanamo Bay inmates

Main article: Guantanamo Bay attorneys

Attorneys at Covington & Burling have been Guantanamo Bay attorneys for Ahmed al-Ghailani, fifteen Yemenis, one Pakistani, and one Algerian being held at Guantanamo Bay. The firm obtained favorable rulings that detainees have rights under the Fifth Amendment and the Geneva Conventions. The court ruled in March 2005 that the government could not transfer detainees from Guantanamo Bay to foreign custody without first giving the prisoners a chance to challenge the move in court.

According to an annual pro bono survey of The American Lawyer, Covington attorneys spent 3,022 hours on Guantanamo litigation in 2007, "the firm's largest pro bono project that year". Attorneys from the firm who have become administration officials, such as Lanny Breuer, have been advised by ethics officials to recuse themselves in matters involving detainees represented by their former firms, but not from policy issues where they were not personally and substantially involved.

Covington also co-authored one of three petitioner briefs filed in Boumediene v. Bush "and was responsible for several detainee victories" in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, although they did not participate in litigation over the Guantanamo Bay prison.

Current and former attorneys

• David Campion Acheson
• Dean Acheson
• Donald Alexander
• Richard S. Arnold
• Howard Berman
• Alan Bersin
• Stephanos Bibas
• John R. Bolton
• Kit Bond
• Michael Boudin
• Steven G. Bradbury
• Lanny Breuer
• William Bundy
• Edward B. Burling
• Bruno Campos
• Vince Girdhari Chhabria
• Abram Chayes
• Michael Chertoff
• W. Graham Claytor, Jr.
• Christopher Reid Cooper
• John Sherman Cooper
• J. Harry Covington
• Malik R. Dahlan
• Roderick Allen DeArment
• Joan Donoghue
• John W. Douglas
• John C. Dugan
• Stuart E. Eizenstat
• Leecia Eve
• Adrian S. Fisher
• Roger Fisher
• Ivan K. Fong
• Gerhard Gesell
• Haywood Stirling Gilliam, Jr.
• Jack L. Goldsmith
• Lino Graglia
• James Hamilton
• Coleman Hicks
• Donald Hiss
• Elie Honig
• Eric Holder
• Charles Antone Horsky
• Philip K. Howard
• Nicholas Johnson
• Michael Karlan
• Yale Kamisar
• Harold Hongju Koh
• Alex Kozinski
• Jon Kyl
• Robert D. Lenhard
• Robert Lighthizer
• Eugene Ludwig
• Kenneth W. Mack
• Gerard Magliocca
• David Marchick
• Burke Marshall
• James C. McKay
• David E. McGiffert
• Roderick R. McKelvie
• Terrell McSweeny
• Richard A. Merrill
• Richard Meserve
• Sandra Douglass Morgan
• Alfred H. Moses
• David Nason
• Dawn Clark Netsch
• Kevin Newsom
• John W. Nields Jr.
• John Lord O'Brian
• Mary Ellen O'Connell
• Roberts Bishop Owen
• David Remes
• Gary R. Roberts
• George Rublee
• Charles Ruff
• Albert Sacks
• Arjun Singh Sethi
• Andrew J. Shapiro
• Brad Smith
• Paul Tagliabue
• Phyllis D. Thompson
• Jamar K. Walker
• Paul Warnke
• Togo D. West, Jr.
• Josh Whitman
• Sarah L. Wilson
• Wesley S. Williams Jr.
• Joshua Wolson
• Robert Eric Wone
• Diane Wood

References

References

1. [https://www.law.com/law-firm-profile/?id=69&name=Covington-Burling "Covington"] Law.com.
2. [https://www.cov.com/en/professionals/g/douglas-gibson Douglas Gibson]
3. [https://www.cov.com/en/professionals/k/peter-koski Peter Koski]
4. Center, Southern Poverty Law. (2020-07-17). "Federal Lawsuit Seeks Damages for Traumatized Migrant Families Torn Apart by Trump Separation Policy".
5. (December 3, 2002). "Edward Burling Jr., 94, Senior Partner at a Top Law Firm". The New York Times.
6. Center, Southern Poverty Law. (July 17, 2020). "Federal Lawsuit Seeks Damages for Traumatized Migrant Families Torn Apart by Trump Separation Policy".
7. (July 17, 2020). "Украина против России: услуги американских юристов уже обошлись в $28,3 млн".
8. (2015). "A brief historical note".
9. "Covington Joins Forces With Qatar-Based Consulting Firm".
10. [https://vault.com/best-companies-to-work-for/law/top-100-law-firms-rankings "Vault Law 100"] Vault.com. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
11. (2025-02-26). "Covington Revenge Deepens Worries of Defending Trump Targets (1)".
12. (2025). "Trump targets Washington law firm that aided Jack Smith".
13. [https://globalcompetitionreview.com/survey/gcr-100/19th-edition/organization-profile/covington-burling "Covington & Burling"] ''GCR 100'', 19th Edition, Law Business Research, December 14, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
14. [https://www.ohnd.uscourts.gov/mdl-2804 IN RE: NATIONAL PRESCRIPTION OPIATE LITIGATION] MDL No. 2804
15. "Chapman et al v. Monsanto Company (3:20-cv-01277), California Northern District Court".
16. [https://drive.proton.me/urls/B5B695Q37W#Li46eCdPliQ1 MONSANTO COMPANY’S NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT BASED ON TEXAS PRESUMPTION OF NO LIABILITY], (pg. 5) IN RE: ROUNDUP PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION, Chapman et al. v. Monsanto Co., 3:20-cv01277-VC, September 21, 2021
17. (January 4, 2017). "California braces for a Trump presidency by tapping former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder for legal counsel".
18. (January 4, 2017). "California draws a very big gun to stand up to Trump: Eric Holder".
19. "Covington & Burling LLP | News | Covington Helps Australia Secure Unprecedented Visa Legislation". Cov.com.
20. (November 20, 2012). "Covington Assisting South Korea on Visa Issue – The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times". Legaltimes.typepad.com.
21. "ACLU Announces Awardees for Pro Bono Attorney and Firm of the Year".
22. "Griffin V. Illinois | Findlaw". Caselaw.lp.findlaw.com.
23. (2025-02-25). "Trump targets Washington law firm that aided Jack Smith".
24. [http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/2008/05/covington-burli.html Covington & Burling partner takes on defense of Guantanamo death penalty case] May 29, 2008 The AmLaw Daily
25. "Public Service Activities 2007".
26. [[Joe Palazzolo]], [http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202428688933 Some Justice Department Lawyers Have Gitmo Conflicts] March 2, 2009 ''Legal Times''
27. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/david-c-acheson-washington-lawyer-and-memoirist-dies-at-96/2018/09/07/67914114-b1de-11e8-a20b-5f4f84429666_story.html "David C. Acheson, Washington lawyer and memoirist, dies at 96,"] ''The Washington Post''.